One In A Million
by MusicIsInMySoul977
Summary: In a far away land, there is a small nation, called Nympharum. It's a magical place, where humans do not exist. Instead, the people of this nation are faeries. Meet Kierlan a sixteen-year-old sprite , as she goes on a journey that will change her life.
1. Prolouge

One in a Million

Emily Chapman

Prologue

"Just do it." Kierlan pleaded.

They always say that when you are about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes, but she was dying, and nothing of the sort had happened yet. It's not like she was afraid. At least, not anymore. She had lost everything; Her family, her friends, her job. There was only one thing that could save her now, but she knew now that wishing for that to happen was no use, it just used up brain space. Her "opponent " dug the knife further into her stomach. Not enough to spill blood yet, but still enough to be excruciating. She didn't want to, she knew it was what they where hoping for. But she couldn't help it, she screamed anyway, to the delight of her audience. Her audience, those sick people who had put her here. She knew it wasn't their fault, they had been tricked, but she still blamed them. Looking up to the stands, she could see Nessade, Tergotness, Ceidite and Amaria. They were the four people who were actually responsible for everything she was accused of. She felt a blackness coming over her, and she knew she didn't have much time left.

"Any last words for the crowd?" The troll who was killing her asked.

Kierlan nodded. She looked around until she saw him. Meli, the only one who could save her now. He was starring at her, but he was the only one who was not screaming for her blood. She knew he never would. 'I wish you didn't have to see me like this' she thought. With her face contorted in a painful grimace, blood matting her hair and tears running down her face, she whispered,

"P.…"

That was all she could choke out before the troll pushed the knife in, spilling her blood, or what was left, all over the sawdust arena.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Kierlan! Come and eat! You have 10 minutes before your first appointment!" Her mother yelled upstairs.

She rolled her eyes. "Just a minute! I have to do my hair!" she yelled back.

Kierlan always braided her hair when she was meeting a client. Today was special though; she was going to the leader's house to tend to his sick baby. Normally, a human teenager would not be a full-fledged doctor already. But then again, Kierlan wasn't human. No one was. She lived in Nympharum, where humans don't exist and everyone has a unique gift within their class. It just so happened that Kierlan –who was of the Sprite Class-, had the extremely rare gift of healing. So she had been treating patients since she was six. She ran downstairs to find her mother, Madgess –gift of extreme Herb knowledge- and her Father, Pyta –gift of cooking-. They were waiting for her with her bag of herbs, tonics and tisanes and a slice of her father's homemade bread with elderberry jam. "Thanks!" She yelled to them as she ran out the door and down her street. They only lived a couple streets from the leader, but he was still ten minutes, walking distance. And carriages were only available for those people who lived in Cassellera. Casellera was the nation's capital, where the royal family lived. Everyone wanted to go there to find his or her fortune, but you were only allowed in if you were invited. And invitations are rare, and hardly last long. Kierlan lived in the Silva province, or the province of forests. There was also the Nympha –water- province, Saxum –rock- province, the Herba –grass- province, the Nix –snow- province, the Heremus –desert- province and the Inferno province. There were different classes of Faeries who lived in the provinces. There where Elves, the royalty of the faeries. Then Nymphs, who used to rule, but they were de-throned because of lies and deceit that all nymphs are known for. Then Sprites, which were the working class. And finally Trolls, who were Nympharum's warriors. Every single faerie has a gift, within their class. Some are rarer than others. They say that an elf healer is born every week, a troll healer is born ever month, a nymph healer is born ever year, and a sprite healer is born every thousand years. So some gift are much rarer than others. The rarer the gift, the more powerful it is, so a sprite healer is more powerful than an elf one. This is why everyone Kierlan knew was just waiting for her to get the invitation to go to Cassellera. It's not as if she wanted to go, why would she want to heal all of those pampered elves, when the people back home are suffering far worse? But Kierlan seemed to be the only one who thought that. Even her best friend, Aivilo was excited for her.

"Just think! You'll get to meet the Prince!" she would say everyday.

"Whatever. Yea, I'll be dining with the prince, while Rosella dies in her cradle!"

Kierlan always manages some sort of depressing response like that. Rosella was the child she was going to see now. The leader of the little town they all lived in had come to Kierlan's house in the middle of the night about a week ago, holding his only child in his arms. She was frail, and coughing.

"What happened?" Kierlan asked.

"I don't know! About a week ago, Rose started coughing, we thought nothing of it! She's always been a little weak. But it just got worse, and worse. Finally tonight, she started vomiting up blood!" He exclaimed.

Kierlan went into healer mode, she was completely professional, transforming from an emotion, untrusting teenager, to a quick, able handed healer in less than it took anyone to blink an eye.

"Mother!" she yelled. "Get a cup of that soothing peppermint tea for Mr. Prumpet!" Kierlan moved to take the child, but Mr. Prumpet held on.

"Sir, if my suspisions are correct your daughter has but minutes. _Minutes_ to live. Either I take her to my medicine now, and perhaps, I might be able to save her," Kierlan knew this was stupid, and an extreme hyperbole. Of course she could save this girl, but she thought that since this man was obviously distressed, and you had to give those kinds of people facts. Even if false ones at that. "Or, you can stand here, not allowing me to do my work. So please, if you would just let me take her."

That made him let go. Kierlan moved swiftly, dodging her mother, coming with a boiling pot of water, and placing the frail child on the table in the herb room. She did a brief survey of what she was going on.

"from the looks of it, you seem to have Crane Cough" She muttered under her breath.

Kierlan always talked to her patients, telling them what she was doing. She put her head to the girl's chest, just as she coughed.

"just as I suspected. It's in the later stages too. Fluid in the lungs, yellowish tint to the skin from oxygen deprivation. And the blood's probably from all that coughing. All I have to do is get that fluid out, and fix the throat, but how…"

She moved with a quickness that only comes from years of practice. She went to the shelf's of teas, tintictures, tonics and such. It only took seconds to find what she needed.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed,

grabbing off the shelf a mixture of mint, rosemary and a very rare herb that smells foul, but gets rid of mucus. She grabbed the jar, quickly putting it in a boiling bag, then throwing that in the pot of boiling water. She waited a couple seconds for the propoties of the herbs to take effect. Then she pulled the bag out, and pulverized it's contents, adding it to a cup of the herby water. She sniffed it, then recoiled in repulsion.

"ugh." She said, looking for something to make it smell and taste a bit better. She spotted a jar of fresh honey that her father had gotten in the morning. She grabbed it, taking a spoonful.

"this will help with the throat too!"

She grabbed the cup, bringing it over to the girl, lifting her to a sitting position.

"Hey, sweetie." She said, smiling at the girl. "I know this is going to be hard, but I need you to drink this."

The little girl stirred a bit, she looked at the cup, sniffing it, the girl wrinkled her nose.

"I know it smells bad, but I promise it'll make you feel a whole lot better."

The child looked at the cup again, this time taking it, but still not drinking.

"Okay, here's my deal. If you drink that entire cup, and every other one that your poppa will need to give you, I promise I'll give you a treat!"

The girl smiled at kierlan, raising the cup to her lips. It did take several mintutes, but the girl eventually did drink all of the mixture. Thus, as she had promised, Kierlan gave the girl some more honey on a little piece of her father's fresh baked bread. The child was obviously famished, as she probably hadn't eaten in a couple days. Kierlan kneeled down beside the girl.

"What's your name sweatheart?" she asked the girl.

'Rosella. But poppa calls me rose. What's yours?" the girl, rosella, said in a high clear voice. It was a little strained, but she hadn't been talking in a day or two.

"oh, me? I'm Kierlan. But everyone I knows calls me Kiri. Nice to meet you Rose. Do you feel better?"

"A little." Rose stopped to cough. "I just wish the coughing will stop."

Kierlan chuckled. "It will Rose, but just give it a couple days." She smiled down at Rose, who smiled back. "Ready to go back to your poppa?"

The girl nodded. Kierlan brought the child out.

"Here you go sir, all better!" Kierlan said when Mr. Prumpet was in sight.

He looked releaved. Kierlan handed him a bag full of the mixture she had used in the tea.

"You'll need to give her two cups of that a day. Soak it in hot water for a minute or two, then pulverize the herbs, and put them in a cup with the water and a spoon of honey. I'll come in about a week or so to see how she's doing." Kierlan smiled at Mr. Prumpet.

"Oh, and next time, please bring her when she shows any sign of illness. The I can actually treat it before it becomes to advanced." There was a slight air of distain in her voice as she said this. She knew that this official was higher on the ladder of social status, but he should know that when it comes to this house, Kierlan ruled.

"We wouldn't want a child that young becoming a pixie, now would we?"

Kierlan smiled a smile that was dripping fake sweetness. Everyone knew that when faeries got sick, if they were not treated in time, they became Pixies. Pixies were ghosts of the former person, who's only purpose in life is to cause mayhem. They are malicious, unforgiving and nasty. But only to the people who they dislike.

But, anyway, that is how Kierlan ended up on the Leader's steps, knocking on his door.

"Come in!" someone yells from in the house.

Just as Kierlan steps in the door, she is almost plowed over by a little moving body, already hugging her legs.

"Kiri!" It's Rose. Kierlan beds down, scooping her up, and hugging her.

"Hello Rose! How are you?" she asked.

"Oh, much, much better!" Rose says, then laughs

Mr. Prumpet comes into the room.

"Well, It seems your cure has worked." He says with a smile.

'of course.' Kierlan thinks sarcasticly. But she's smart enough no to say it.

"Well, here's the money for last week, and the medicine." announced pompously.

Kierlan takes the money for the medicine, but leaves the rest.

"Oh, I don't charge for emergencies. Only appointments." She says, closing Mr. Prumpet's hand on the money. "But thank you!"

then she turns to Rose,

"Oh, and you try and stay healthy, okay?" the girl nods. "And if you _ever_ feel sick again, tell you poppa to bring you to me."

Rose giggled, then nodded. Kierlan ruffled her hair, and shook her father's hand.

"Oh, where's her mother?" Kierlan asked Mr. Prumpet.

"She, uh, passed. About two years ago. She had Everett Fever." He said, quietly, so Rose could not hear. "It upsets her to talk about it."

Kierlan nodded.

"Rose is, how old?" Kierlan asked at full volume.

"She's seven. Eight next month actually." Mr. Prumpet says in his normal tone.

"Well, I'll make sure to pay her a visit then!" Kierlan smiled at Rose, who was beaming at the thought of her birth's day.

Rose scampered off, to 'go and play'. Kierlan was just about to leave when Mr. Prumpet leaned in.

"Oh, and don't you worry. The elves at Castellera will hear about this. And everything else that I've heard about you. You'll be going to Castellera before next spring I bet!" He smiled warmly at Kierlan.

She smiled back, and left. The second the door to his house closed, she was off like a shot. She needed time alone to think.


End file.
